Boston Early Music Festival 2009

The Boston Early Music Festival presented music from both ends of the vast terrain it covers. First up was Stile Antico, left, a British vocal ensemble. In contrast, remarkable Italian ensemble Micrologus later picked up the baton.

Is Beethoven early music? On paper, an all-Beethoven concert at the festival, as was presented by cellist Pieter Wispelwey, left, and fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout, carries the same cognitive dissonance as hearing one's prom theme turn up on an oldies station. In practice, Beethoven's audacious talent was rendered a palpable presence.

A host of Boston Early Music Festival stalwarts took to Jordan Hall in the form of the BEMF Chamber Ensemble. Led by festival codirector Paul O'Dette, left, and violinist Robert Mealy, the group offered a status report on the ever-advancing level of period-instrument prowess.

The Boston Early Music Festival presented a program from Italian ensemble Micrologus, which was titled "Amours, Amours: Landscapes of Love, Lost and Found" and was devoted to 15th-century music from the Italian courts.